Amy T. Parker - Texas Tech University

It is often the case that a set of experiences shapes a person’s
professional choice. My first memory is of my sister and me sitting in
highchairs, banging plastic hammers in tandem. Melody reached over and took
my hammer and, in response, I took hers. There was nothing remarkable to me
about this event at the time. Melody was my first playmate, friend, and she
has always been in my life. Throughout our childhood years, Melody and I
shared a bedroom, played together, ate together and had roles in family
theater productions together. In school, however, I quickly noticed that
Melody rode a separate bus and attended segregated classes. While I studied
typical subjects, Melody often spent hours receiving therapy or just
coloring worksheets. I played softball; Melody participated in softball
throwing once a year at Special Olympics. Because Melody was given a label
of mental retardation, her low vision needs were overlooked. She missed the
opportunity to have an appropriate education, one that addressed her sensory
needs as well as building upon her strengths.

Being Melody’s sister has influenced my entire life motivating me to
pursue a career in serving children and adults with disabilities. After
receiving my undergraduate degree in psychology, I began working as an
employment specialist in Memphis and was selected to assist an individual
who was deafblind in finding employment. In my quest to support my client,
I pursued training at the Helen Keller National Center and graduate training
in rehabilitation and Deafness at the University of Tennessee. While I
helped this individual find employment and design a supported living
situation in the community, she taught me sign language and influenced me to
want to work with people who have sensory loss.

While in Tennessee, I went on to have professional roles as an
independent living teacher and advocate. Both roles involved me supporting
young and older adults, including people who are visually impaired and those
who are deafblind, as they transitioned from institutional settings to
community-based environments. In each of the aforementioned roles,
providing specific training on accommodating sensory loss and support to
service providers was a part helping consumers have the access and support
necessary to work in the community and be more independent. While working,
I studied to get a master’s degree in social work from the University of
Tennessee, doing internship work in the school system as well as in the case
management department at Helen Keller National Center. After graduating
and beginning employment with Helen Keller National Center, I had the
opportunity to attend Northern Illinois University’s Deafblind Certificate
program.

Two of my paid professional roles at Helen Keller National Center -
Community Placement Specialist and Regional Representative - have involved
supporting adult deafblind consumers and young adults in transition with
navigating community services, developing advocacy skills, and being an
effective part of local policy efforts. Both of these roles also involve
working within larger systemic frameworks to provide technical assistance
for the unique needs of people with dual sensory loss, sometimes in the form
of training or strategic planning. In designing state plans and
collaborative agreements with a variety of agencies, I have learned how to
develop systemic partnerships that benefit multiple consumers.

In the areas of formal research, working at the National Technical
Assistance Consortium gave me the opportunity to validate a classroom
observation instrument for teachers who serve deafblind students. Another
role at NTAC involved my collaborating to design technical assistance
activities that included measuring child outcomes across time. It was a
great pleasure to be able to formally document the progress that educational
teams made with students across a school year based upon technical
assistance and intervention.

Some of my most treasured experiences have been as a part-time Parent
Advisor within the early intervention systems in Tennessee and Georgia.
Working with the families of infants and toddlers with vision loss and
multiple disabilities has been life changing for me. The differences that
can be made when young children have access to appropriate support and
collaborative team intervention are astounding.

I am honored to have been selected as one of the NCLVI scholars and look
forward to collaborating with leaders at TTU and across the country to make
positive life changes for children with vision loss and their families
through research and policy development.

Graduate Amy Parker, Ed.D. Texas Tech University

Amy T. Parker and children.

Amy T. Parker was a National Center for Leadership in Visual Impairment (NCLVI) Doctoral Fellow who recently completed her program of study at Texas Tech University. Her emphasis of research was on evidence-based practices in teaching and rehabilitation for people who are visually impaired or deafblind. The focus of her dissertation was an adapted form of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) for students with visual impairments and multiple disabilities. Advocacy and policy development are two of her passions in the field of visual impairment and deafblindness. She has over 15 years serving in the field of deafblindness working as a Community Placement Specialist, Technical Assistance Specialist, and Regional Representative for Helen Keller National Center. Dr. Parker is also a certified interpreter of American Sign Language in the state of Texas. She is working as a Research Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University in the Virginia Murray Sowell Center. She is married to Trey and has two young children, James and Abby.